NSS volunteers perform the street play on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, April 7: National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of College of Commerce today gave slum dwellers of Bahadurpur a reason to smile.

After taking part in an afforestation drive on World Health Day, around 40 volunteers promised a seven-day open school for the slum dwellers, starting tomorrow. The volunteers planted 100 saplings to mark the state’s centenary celebrations and then marched to the slum area.

The volunteers invited the children and their parents to attend the seven-day open school and also staged a Bhojpuri street play at Rajkiya Uchcha Madhyamik Vidyalaya.

The street play connected with the crowd, as the women and children came out to watch the performance, which portrayed their day-to-day problems. It also raised the issue of gender-based discrimination, where the male child gets preference.

Sato Devi, a 40-year-old slum dweller, said: “It was good to see that the play was based on our lives. I don’t have anything to gain from education but it will help my six grandchildren, as only three of them go to school.”

Kriti, a 17-year-old volunteer, said: “We received mixed reactions but it was great.”